650# vs 600# coils on 6112s

My biggest question is how the stock OffRoad suspension with 717#s manages to be softer than aftermarket setups with 650#s with the same vehicle weight, id guess it would have to do with shock valving? I kinda wish they made a 2" lift Bilstein 4600 (oem) as i do like them for my usage. And im an absolute nah on spacer lifts

 

Oem bilsteins are not 4600s

 

Ah i see, whatever the stock ones are they would be cool 2” taller

 

If you're on a budget, go with 5100s.

 

Not necessarily on a budget, i just want a soft riding suspension close to stock. Ive just been hearing enough reviews on 5100s that they are firmer on road and that has gotten me to shy away from them as an option.

 

Trd pro fox suspension is really comfy. If you want a lift with it get the Westcott designs lift kit.

 

I have 600's with a winch on a hidden mount (~90lbs) and ARB skids (~90lbs). 3/4 settings for around 1" of lift. Glad I did not go with 650's. You should be good with your set up. 6112's will ride much more firmly over road imperfections but take big hits much better than stock. The truck will also roll less in corners and under hard braking. My opinion-if you don't plan on doing any higher speed off roading where you will be hitting bigger bumps with speed, they are not a great choice. They are a significant step down in day to day on road comfort but you can really fly down some poorly maintained dirt and fire roads.

 

In my usage probably 80-90% road use to get to the offroad/trail part, then me going 30-40 mph down a rocky trail or washboard fire trail because i get impatient driving too slow. I usually air down to 15-25 psi depending on the surface but i hate losing the ground clearance for the occasional tall rock.

Also, 6112s on 600#ers is really that much of a step down from stock TRD-OR even with all that weight? are you running 6/5?

 

Here is 6112s on 5/6 setting with 600s. Fully armored underneath with sliders. 285/75/16s



Here it is with bumper. Same suspension. You lose about 1 inch lift.


Here it is with 6112s on 5/6 setting with 650s.

 

I would say they are a significant step down in cruising down the highway comfort, but they provide for much sharper handling. You will feel every imperfection in the road though. They have "digressive" valving. Basically, the harder you hit them the more they soften up. The transmission of all the imperfections is something I have gotten used to, and for me it was a worth while trade. I just did a 6500 mile month long trip across the country to MT/UT/CO. I was used to the on road harshness already, but I would have been pretty unhappy if I had just swapped them out and taken off. I really thought I had wasted a lot of money at first, until I realized i could carry a whole lot more controlled speed on bad roads. I could blast down the fire roads and dirt roads out west at 60-70 in the straights (with a clear line of sight) and washboards around turns didn't even upset the rear end, as long as I kept the speed up.

BUT, my truck and CG is relatively low and light, for this purpose. If you go with huge heavy tires it may change things drastically. I'm on settings 3/4 at about 1" of lift with "32's", with JBA UCA's in the front with the caster around 4.5* and super bumps, and airbags with cradles on stock rear leaves with hammer hangers. It doesn't look like much next to all the 3" lifts on 33's but it is highly functional and especially competent at speed.

I previously had 1/2" spacers on the stock front end. The billies provide a lot more stability, but there is no free lunch. Also, the complete lack of shock fade (in my use) is fantastic. In situations where my factory OR shocks faded very quickly, the billies really held together, especially the rear 5160's.

They fit my use case very well, but I'm not a hard core offroader, especially not a crawler. If 30-40 is your normal speed down a fire road, you NEED to go probably 10-20 mph faster to get the shocks to loosen up. If you try to go the same speed where your stock suspension hit a wall, you will not be happy and think you just wasted a ton of money. There's a lot to consider there, like line of sight, traffic, people, wild life, etc.

Regarding spring rate, I would not choose a higher rate to get more lift, but lots of people do. The rate should be based on your static weight. The factory suspension used high rate springs to compensate for very soft shocks. The digressive valving in the 6112's will do much of the work the coil springs were doing before, like controlling body roll and nose dive. These are relatively low speed inputs, so the shock will stay firm and resist the weight transfer.

All this in mind, I think you also need to consider that bottoming out could be a more common occurrence, so plan to make that experience more pleasant for you and survivable for your truck with big fat bump stops. With my minimal lift, my super bumps are maybe only 1/4"-1/2" off the control arm at ride height, so they play a prominent role, too. I have not felt a harsh bottom out on the front end since moving to this setup.

Sorry for the essay

 

Very well said. Wish I read this before buying my set up.
The 6112/5160 work awesome when I’m blasting down the off road track. They absorb everything.

but my kind of off roading is little slower. Big boulders and me having 31-32” tires….I have to take it slow. And that’s where the 6112/5160 are kinda rough and don’t absorb that much.

side note, I got to a location on top of a hill, and then went pretty quick down the hill. Probably 30-40 mph. And the length was probably about 2.5 miles.
When I got to the bottom, I put my hand of the front shock, it was Luke warm. But the rear 5160 was very warm. Like probably 110 degrees on the outside. I think the rear shocks warm up quicker.

 

my biggest gripe when shopping for these lift options, not everyone wants to desert baja run

 

It seems like there are very few progressive aftermarket set ups outside of OME. Maybe the Eibachs? Apparently the linear bypass type shocks like Fox and King do it all well, but I have never experienced them. I cross shopped accutuned Fox's with my 6112's. I think they were bout $4200. 6112/5160 was $780/$350. The cross shopping didn't last long.

 

Probably a dumb question but do you air down? Dropping down to 25 from 36-38 makes a big comfort difference for me with my LT-C tires.

 

Yeah. I do air down. I’m in 265-70-17 and I air down to 14-15psi almost always. Sometimes on these kind of roads with big boulders….and if I have a couple friends with me..I’ll air down to 10psi even. No issues so far.
But that just shows how stiff these shocks are at slow speeds.

I was at 650lbs springs in the Beginning, set at 6/5 and it was pretty dang stiff.
Then a nice man on this forum kindly provided me with 600lbs springs. I feel so bad that I didn’t bring him some nice beverages as a thank you, we were in a rush with my wife…sorry @TacoEspecial

but I installed the 600lbs springs still on 6/5 and it was better, but still little stiff for me. went down to 3/4 and it was notably softer. Went back up to 4/5 and it was noticeable stiffer. I can tell a difference. I would bottom out if I go fast with the 3/4…not with 4/5 cause the springs have more tension.

So I left my truck at 3/4 with a 1/4” spacer on the drivers side. Doesn’t look as cool as other lifted trucks….but it’s the best we can do for comfort.

 

That’s a bro of mine. Get that man some beers

 

What would you suggest for a similar build? not looking to hit woops at 40 miles per hour without breaking a sweat. im looking for better articulation/ clearance off road and comfort on the road. I was looking at full suspension kits and im confused on which setup i should go with as I will gradually be adding weight as well. overall expected added weight is around 650-700 lbs.

 

Best thing would be to do everything at once. Your spring choice should reflect your weight, so you would be pretty unhappy if you got a heavy weight setup with little added weight while you accumulate the rest.

I like my setup a lot, and I have significant weight in the bed especially, with the big RTT, diamondback and bedslide, plus all the crap I carry, but it does not feel like it. I'm not a fan of much ride height increase. I want my CV shafts relatively straight, pinion angle close to stock, and wheels sitting somewhere near the middle of available travel. I had 5100's on my last truck cranked up to about 2.5" and they were not real comfortable or good at anything really, but it was my fault for setting the preload so high. The height also caused premature CV boot wear.

The 6112's are definitely not some desert running triple bypass setup, they just allow you to carry more speed on bad roads and make on road handling more direct. But you really need to keep the speed up to get them to work off-road. If that doesn't sound like you, I'd maybe start by looking into the old man emu setup. Way too much lift for me, but lots of people like it. Not sure about the shocks but I'd guess they are progressive.

 

Which notch did you go with to support your setup with the 700 lbs spring and how much lift did it give you?

 

Hmm Im currently running 600# with sliders and full aluminum skids. I'm getting about 1/4 sag in the front and have some noticable nose dive in braking.. it does also feel a bit soft.

From what I'm gathering I should go to 650 for my current setup or step up to 700# if I were to add a stubby bumper and winch?

Currently at 6/8 plus a 1/2 (1/4) spacer, getting 1.25" of lift but I need to disassemble and adjust them when I install my new leaves... Which I may just add a winch and heavier springs at the same time to avoid having to mess with it and get an alignment again in the near future